My occasional take on important, cutting-edge or interesting legal news:
Legal News
Legal News
May 24th, 2014
If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to curb securities fraud litigation, it's widely expected that they'll use the arguments advanced by law school professors Joseph Grundfest or Adam Pritchard, Reuters' Alison Frankel reports. Both filed competing amicus briefs in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund.
The case is challenging the theory that share prices reflect all publicly available information and that... Continue Reading
May 22nd, 2014
As government budgets shrink and court systems face cuts, "a yearlong NPR investigation found that the costs of the criminal justice system in the United States are paid increasingly by the defendants and offenders. It's a practice that causes the poor to face harsher treatment than others who commit identical crimes and can afford to pay. Some judges and politicians fear the trend has gone too far," NPR reports.
This... Continue Reading
May 20th, 2014
Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage was struck down today, just a day after Oregon's ban on sam-sex marriage was struck down. Marriages have begun in both states.
Now there are 25 states that allow same-sex marriage and 25 that don't, the Associated Press reports.
In Oregon, U.S. District Judge Michael McShane said there was no rational relationship to any legitimate government interest to ban same-sex couples from... Continue Reading
May 19th, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 6-3, today that the doctrine of laches, or undue delay, does not bar the heir of the coauthor of a screenplay that was that the basis of the boxing film, "Raging Bull," from suing for copyright infringement, Forbes reports. The ruling sets up a three-year rolling period in which copyright owners can sue for infringement, but they only can sue for profits earned during that three-year window.
There was... Continue Reading
May 18th, 2014
The Utah Supreme Court has temporarily halted the issuance of birth certificates in same-sex parent adoptions, the Associated Press reports. One district court had ordered government officials to explain the state's refusal to recognize a same-sex couple's adoption, the AP further reports.
The 10th Circuit is currently deciding whether to uphold a lower-court ruling striking down Utah's ban on same-sex marriage. Continue Reading
May 18th, 2014
The petition of certiorari made by New York Times reporter James Risen, who the Fourth Circuit has ruled must identify a confidential source in the case of a former CIA agent suspected of being a leaker, will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court at a May 29 conference, SCOTUSblog reports.
Lee Levine, a leading First Amendment lawyer with Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, has said he does not think that the U.S. Supreme Court... Continue Reading
May 15th, 2014
The Washington Post reports on the Court of Justice of the European Union's's decision this week that Internet users have the right to demand that Google-search links be deleted. Europeans have the right to be forgotten. Americans don't. "Those seeking a similar right in the United States have stumbled upon the expansive free-speech protections in the First Amendment. Blocking access to even the most damaging information... Continue Reading
May 15th, 2014
The Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to approve new net neutrality rules, including favoring the creation of an internet fast lane, Gigaom's Stacey Higginbotham reports: "The FCC is proposing that it should use the authority that it has under Section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act to regulate net neutrality, which unfortunately leaves the rules open to the possibility of paid prioritization." Continue Reading
May 15th, 2014
An estimated $474 million in federal appropriations were spent on developing four state-level Obamacare exchanges that are "now in shambles," Politico reports. Massachusetts, Oregon, Nevada and Maryland now either have to move their residents onto the federal exchange or rebuild their systems, Politico further reports: "Nevada, for one, is still trying to figure out its future. Oregon has decided to switch to HealthCare.gov.... Continue Reading
May 15th, 2014
Sprint, the country's third-largest wireless provider, was the only cellphone company to receive "the secret legal basis of a then-classified program that collected Americans’ phone records by the billions for counterterrorism purposes" because it was the only company to demand access to that legal rationale before the program was revealed last year by Edward Snowden's leaks, the Washington Post reports. After... Continue Reading
May 14th, 2014
Idaho has become the latest state to have its ban on same-sex marriage overturned, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale wrote, '''Idaho’s marriage laws withhold from them (gay and lesbian couples) a profound and personal choice, one that most can take for granted. By doing so, Idaho’s marriage laws deny same-sex couples the economic, practical, emotional and spiritual benefits... Continue Reading
May 14th, 2014
The Fourth Circuit became the second federal appellate court to consider a decision to strike down a ban on same-sex marriage, Law.com's Marcia Coyle reports: "Judging by comments made by the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit hearing Virginia’s case, the fate of the state’s ban, one of the most restrictive in the country, could hang on the vote of one judge."
Some of the ... Continue Reading
May 13th, 2014
One of the main challenges to actualizing the promise of electronic health records in improving patient care is that they are developed as part of proprietary systems and are not always interoperable. FierceHealthIT asks if a $11 billion contract to develop electronic health records for the Department of Defense could "be a game-changer for healthcare in the United States due to its sheer size and scope." The system will... Continue Reading
May 12th, 2014
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has clarified that most of the rules of when liens are asserted by the government to recover the money spent on Medicaid health care for long-term care will apply to people who are getting Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act expansion, The Southern reports. States are entitled to asset recovery for all health care benefits, but CMS hopes that states will only impose liens and try to recover... Continue Reading
May 12th, 2014
Even though the Federal Aviation Administration restricts the use of unmanned aircraft for commerical purposes, enforcement is "scattershot," "emboldening even more drone operators," the Wall Street Journal reports. While regulation lags, Matt Waite, the journalism professor who runs a drone-journalism program, told the WSJ that the "'longer it takes to have the rules of the road in place, the more the technology... Continue Reading
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